An Infirmary Lullaby
by Akane Kuran
Summary: Little terminal-Genta thing from Nation's POV, stand-alone series, kind of like Grey's Anatomy but slightly different, please try to enjoy. Will be multi-chaptered.
1. Admitted

**An Infirmary Lullaby**

**More terminal-Genta, my apologies... Thanks to Ninety-Six Smiles for your continued help and support.**

**BTW; Anna and Kate (mentioned in this chapter) are two characters in My Sister's Keeper. **

* * *

Nation's POV...

I grab for my frap as the oscillating fan hits me with another blast of hot air. August in Denton is always stifling as hell despite the fact that we're in Ohio. But I am in the On-Call room of Denton Public Hospital, in scrubs, with two other doctors and a nurse.

"Fuck it..." Dr. Frank Furter whines, pulling off the shirt of his scrubs and tossing it across the room, "I should have never gone to med school..."

"Just because of the heat-wave?" counters my brother, Dr. Cosmo McKinley, Nurse Laura Ansalong chokes on her Icee.

"Gosh, Frankie- ach-shit-"

"Drink water, Laura."

"Can't,-gah-it boiled!" Laura coughs and spits a chunk of Icee into her hand.

"Disgusting."

"WHAT'RE YOU SAYING?" Laura squeals, rubbing the chunk all over her body, "So cold!"

My pager starts to beep, as do Cosmo's, Frank's and Laura's.

"ER, why would the ER page us?"

"Five-car pileup?"

"Bus crash?"

"Plane accident?"

"Fat people?" We jump up,

"We're pathetic..." Frank interjects as we leave the on-call room.

* * *

"24 year old female, leukemic, collapsed-"

The ambulance pulls up to the doors of the ER and almost kills Laura, the paramedics pass Cosmo and Frank a stretcher, and I barely see the patient before a young man with brown hair and glasses jumps out of the ambulance,

"MAGENTA, STAY AWAKE! PLEASE!"

"Sir, are you her husband?" Cosmo interrogates,

"Yes, Brad Majors- HEY!" the man grabs Frank by the shoulder, "YOU'RE DEAD!"

"I'm a doctor, asshole, and it's amazing what we can do."

"Frankie-!"

"Pipe down, Laura, I know this guy, I know her too, she used to work for me- abdomen's rigid, she must be bleeding internally... Page someone, dammit! And Nation, stop standing there like a bump on a log, you need to intubate!"

I hold an oxygen mask over the patient's mouth as the blood starts to spurt out,

"COSMO, A LITTLE HELP?" I scream as blood splatters across my scrubs and face, the woman's eyes flutter open and she stares glassily at me, "Ma'am, you're at Denton Public Hospital-"

"I- uh-uh-"

"Is she okay?"

"CAN SOMEONE GET HIM AWAY?" I slide a hand behind the woman's back and lift her forward so the blood drains down. Cosmo puts in IV in and Laura closes the ER doors.

* * *

"Okay, Magenta Alvarado, age 24, hospitalized for AML sixteen times in the past six months." Cosmo clarifies to the roomful of interns, residents and our patient and her husband.

"And she has kidney dysplasia, she received a transplant at the age of thirteen from her sister." Laura adds, hanging a few clear bags of saline on Ms Alvarado's IV pole.

"Is her family estranged?"

"No, but they live an hour away. Mr. Majors has made her illness a full-time job since they've been married."

"It's true." says the man next to her bed, smirking a little, "Magenta's my life now."

"YEAH, AFTER A DISASTROUS ONE-NIGHT STAND AT MY PLACE!" Frank screams, Mr Majors flips him off. I can't believe this is my co-worker...

"Can we get back on track?" An intern cuts in,

"I agree." I cover,

"Mr Majors, if I can talk to you for a few minutes." Cosmo requests, Mr Majors stands up, Frank follows them with a disdainful look on his face.

"Okay." I announce, "Do any of you assholes have any idea what medications Ms Alvarado-"

"I DO I DO I DO!" hollers an intern who I don't know, "Ummm, chemo, radiation, various others, specified heeeere..."

"I don't need to see." With a loud, violent gasp, Ms Alvarado is coughing herself awake, "Okay, clear out, she's awake." the interns skitter away, giggling. Laura backs slowly out of the room, smirking.

"Mmmm..."

"Ms Alvarado, you're at Denton Public Hospital, you collapsed-"

"I'm not stupid, I know where I am. I know this hospital like the back of my- ahh-" Ms Alvarado flinches and I incline her bed, "Where's Brad?"

"Is that your husband?"

"No, he's my cat. Of course he's my fucking husband." Ms Alvarado runs a hand through her long red curls, "So who are you anyway?"

"Dr. Nation McKinley."

"I've never had you before, I've had Frank though. I've known him since I was thirteen, anyway."

"Thirteen, huh?"

"I used to work for him. He wasn't always a... _real_ doctor, you know."

"What did you do for him?"

"...I was his maid."

"He must be loaded."

"He _was_."

I glance out the window in the door, all I can see is 'Brad' listening to something, nodding occasionally. Ms Alvarado looks down, she's picking at a loose thread in her blanket.

"So, we're going to need to keep you for a while, so we've decided to put you on a higher dose of chemo, which should put you into remission, or semi-remission, and when that happens, we will discharge you."

"Not if I die first."

"Ms Alvarado-"

"Dr. McKinley, am I dying?"

"No. You're really not." I almost snap, I'm slowly getting pissed off, "...Ms Alvarado, if you were dying, we would not be putting you on a higher dose of treatment. You would be on arsenic therapy, which would give you more time, but you're not on arsenic. You're on chemo."

"You're new, aren't you?"

"To oncology, yes. I was a neurologist through my internship. But I'm a resident."

"You look a little young to be a resident."

"I'm 25. Skipped 9th grade. Then 11th."

"Am I going to die?"

"Stop it. Or I'll put you under. I'm a doctor, I'm allowed."

Ms Alvarado glances down again, "Do I need another surgery?"

"Not that I know of..."

"...Get Brad in here..."

"I-"

"Please, Dr. McKinley."

"I don't know if-"

"_Nation. _My husband, please."

I cough nervously and stand up. I open the door, Cosmo is saying something,

"With many myeloid leukemias- Nation, why are you-"

"Mr. Majors, your wife is asking for you."

"She is?"

"Just a second-"

"Cosmo, the patient comes first,"

"Nat, since when are you-"

"Come with me, Mr Majors." I lead Brad back into the room, Ms Alvarado smiles, he sits next to her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay, now that I got to see you..."

Frank makes a gagging noise, I glance at him severely,

"Dr. Furter, do you need to step out?"

"I'm fine, Dr. McKinley."

Brad frowns and pulls Ms Alvarado closer, in a kind of protective way, like we're going to rub off on his precious little wife. It would be an improvement on that little bitch.

Ms Alvarado smiles a little, nervously. "Dr McKinley, when do I start treatment again?"

"Tomorrow." Cosmo and I answer in unison. I cough nervously again. And we back out of the room.

...

"So how about those two?" Laura squeals in the cafeteria as she grabs a box of rubberized French fries and drowns them in vinegar.

"Well, they're... a happy couple. They love each other."

"Of course they do. They're married, that's the point of marriage, love. Like you and Ricky."

"We're not married, but..."

"But you're in love. Or whatever your relationship is centred around..."

Laura shoots me a look and I shut up. Cosmo and Frank sit down at our table,

"I can't deal with those two anymore."

"Who, _Brad_ and _Magenta_?" Laura corrects,

"You mean, _Mr Majors_ and _Ms Alvarado_? No, I can't deal with them."

"You can refer to them by their first names."

"No we can't." Cosmo scoffs, "First of all, she's going to be as good as dead in... well, a matter of weeks, and he just annoys me."

"Okay, Magenta is sweet, she's really sweet." Frank counters, "I know her, and yeah, Brad may be an asshole, but you can't be like that to him, he's... just stressed out about Magenta being so sick."

"Excuses, excuses." Cosmo snaps, "Y'know, if I was him, _divorce_, I'm not about to deal with some whiny little slut crying over her fucking cancer."

"THAT'S AWFUL!" Laura screams, jumping up noisily from her seat so that the whole cafeteria turns around, she sits back down, "Cosmo, you are a horrid person. You cannot say that about a patient and her husband. It's horrible, you're going straight to hell."

"As long as you won't be there with me."

"I can assure you, I won't."

"Alright, Anna Fitzgerald, have fun waiting on your little Kate friend."

There's a moment of silence before Laura runs away in tears. Frank stands up and runs after her.

"Cosmo!"

"What'd I do?"

"...did Laura ever tell you about Sidney?"

"Who's Sidney?"

"... Sidney was Laura's sister. She had leukemia. She died last year."

* * *

**Did y'all like it so far? I hope so, there's more to come, so just remember that... keep on truckin', I guess...**


	2. Acquainted

**An Infirmary Lullaby**

**More terminal-Genta, my apologies... Thanks to Ninety-Six Smiles for your continued help and support.**

* * *

Nation's POV.

"AAAAUUUGH, PASS THE FAN!" Frank screams as he enters the on-call room, tearing his shirt off and tossing it onto one of the bunk beds. Laura and Cosmo still aren't speaking. I hand him the portable electric fan, he shoves it down the front of his pants.

"I'm never using that again." Laura grumbles,

"SHUT UP!" Cosmo screams. I need earmuffs with this bunch. My pager goes off,

"Who's that?" Laura interrogates,

"Ms Alvarado, I'm honestly going to kill her."

"That's not funny." Laura growls dangerously, I stand up and leave the room.

...

I run halfway to Ms Alvarado's door, it's open a crack, I fling it open,

"WHAT'S WRONG? WHAT HAPPENED?"

Ms Alvarado and Brad are staring at me, one of Laura's nurse friends is staring at me like a damn deer in headlights, her hands are frozen on Ms Alvarado's IV pole,

"Dr McKinley... Is there a problem?" Ms Alvarado whispers,

"I got a page! My pager went off, I thought that...-"

"Oh, that was me." says the nurse, "I noticed a sudden change in Ms Alvarado's heart rate and I-"

"Shut up." I bark at the nurse. She hides behind the bed, "And YOU." I shoot a severe glance at Brad, "YOU shouldn't encourage this behaviour!"

"Okay, really?"

Ms Alvarado coughs, Brad springs into action.

"Sweetheart, I'm fine." Ms Alvarado looks at me, "He's paranoid..."

"No, I'm just so in love with you-"

"ALRIGHT, CAN WE ALL STOP?" I shout, "GOSH! YOU PEOPLE ARE GONNA GIVE ME DIABETES!" My pager goes off again, "I'm leaving now."

...

"Okay. ROUNDS, PEOPLE!" hollers Dr. Shoshana Halminen, waving charts above her head, we all kind of start to gravitate towards her, Laura giggles from the nurses' station, "McKinley," she hands Cosmo a chart, "19 year-old-kid in Room 359, broken femur... Furter..." she hands Frank a chart, "ER. Other McKinley..." she hands me a chart, "Magenta Alvarado."

"Okay, no. Can't I do Peds with Nurse Ansalong?"

"Don't try to argue with me, McKinley, you get what you get and you don't get upset, Evans, you're in the ER-"

"Can't we talk this over?"

"What? Can't handle an AML case? We don't get that many, you should go with this while you can."

"Well... I don't like her."

"Deal with it. Dr. Sondheim, _you'll_ be doing Peds today."

I run down the hall, Brad is standing outside the door.

"Why're you here?"

"I'm assigned to your wife."

He frowns, "Great."

"I'll have you know, I happen to be a great doctor."

"That's not what I'm worried about! Dr. McKinley, your bedside-manner is absolutely terrible. You've been nothing but rude so far, Magenta doesn't need that right now, could we maybe get Dr. Furter? At least he _cares_ about Magenta-"

"Alright, you're blowing this waaaayyyy out of proportion."

"No, actually, I just love my wife and I want her to be comfortable if she isn't able to make it."

"First of all, we can _fix_ your wife, second, Dr. Furter has his own work to take care of, his own patients."

Brad groans and goes back into Ms Alvarado's room. I follow him, she's dead asleep (maybe that wasn't a very good comparison...). Brad sits next to her and holds her hand, she opens her eyes,

"You're here... Dr. McKinley... Laura said you were assigned to me."

"You mean, Nurse Ansalong?"

"Sure, but we're on a first-name basis now."

"How very cute..." I turn to Brad, "Has her heart rate fluctuated at all during the night."

Brad nods a little and Ms Alvarado looks down and whispers, "It was irregular last night."

I'm silent for a few seconds, "...Well, we will have to draw some blood."

"That's okay. I like needles."

"That's creepy and weird..."

"They make me feel like I'm getting better."

"You're crazy." I pull the wrapper off a syringe with my teeth and jab it into Ms Alvarado's forearm, she stares at it going in and _smiles_. Brad looks like he's about to straight up pass out.

"That feels good."

"You need professional help."

"Don't worry, that's why I'm here."

The room falls silent. I'm frozen with a syringe full of blood in my hand, Ms Alvarado is staring at me incredulously and I'm pretty sure Brad is about to rip my face off.

I back out of the room, slowly.

"Wait, wait, stop." says Ms Alvarado, "Where the hell are you going?"

"Well, everything got awkward all of a sudden, so I'm going away."

"Whatever works."

I run down the hall and almost run Laura over,

"EE! NAT!"

"You need to watch where you're going, I could have spilled leukemia all over you."

"You got Magenta?"

"Why are you calling her that?"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Because you barely know her, she's probably terminal and she's a bitch?"

"You shouldn't say that, it's not nice."

"Oh, come _on. _She's a patient."

"Yeah, so? She's a human being and you should treat her as such."

I stare at Laura for a second, with her lime-green eyes and her cheesy ponytail that makes her look like a whore.

"I gotta get these down to hematology."


	3. Affected

**An Infirmary Lullaby**

**More terminal-Genta, my apologies... Thanks to Ninety-Six Smiles for your continued help and support. And for coming up with the title. If you hadn't, I would have called it... 'McKinley's Anatomy' or something weird like that...**

* * *

Nation's POV.

Laura throws open the door of the on-call room,

"NAT, AND FRANK, HURRY, COME WITH ME, OUT HERE, NOW!"

"What about me?" Cosmo yells after us as Laura drags us into the hall,

"GO TO HELL!" Laura screams back. "Okay, Nat and Frank, I have to tell you something... About Magenta."

"Ms Alvarado."

"SHUT UP, NAT. Anyway, we almost lost her last night."

Frank looks horrified, "What?"

"She's fine now, but, Nat, I expect you to clean up your act."

"Why me?"

"She's your patient and she almost died!"

"Patients die all the time, Laura."

"NOT MAGENTA!" Laura falls silent, "Just, go check on her, please."

I start down the hall, I can feel Laura's eyes boring into my shoulderblades.

...

I push open Ms Alvarado's door, Brad is sobbing like a little bitch into her shoulder and she has her arms around him,

"Is everything okay in here?"

Brad pulls off of his wife and dries his eyes, "Yes, everything's fine, Magenta, sweetheart, I'm going downstairs, I need to call my cousin and ask when he'll be at the beach house."

"Okay..." Brad leaves, "Is something wrong, Dr McKinley?"

"You know you coded, right?"

"Yes, I know, what does 'code' mean anyway?"

I sit down next to her on her bed, I gently take hold of her hand, she looks nervous at my sudden display of forced, pretentious affection. "Ms Alvarado, your heart stopped. And you stopped breathing, that's what code means."

Ms Alvarado's eyes grow a few inches wider, "Oh... I- I see, I-" She opens her mouth, but freezes and bursts into violent tears. I've never seen anyone cry this hard before. In short, it's awkward.

"Luckily, you're fine now, and it probably won't happen again-... I'm really very sorry." I stand up and start to leave.

"Wait-" Ms Alvarado stops me, "Call me Magenta, okay?"

This is the exact moment Laura always warned me about, when a patient gets personal... All I can say is, "Okay, but you'll have to start calling me Nation."

It's weird, how in under five minutes, I became friends with a patient.

* * *

Nobody else is in the On-Call room. I lie down on one of the beds. Within seconds, I'm asleep.

...

_"Nation...? Nation? NATION!"_

_I can hear a voice screaming my name, a woman's voice, sweet, high-pitched, and sexy, Magenta is calling my name... I run through the halls of the hospital, the screams are getting worse, distressed, like she's dying..._

_All at once, I see them. A tall, skinny teenage girl with a long brown ponytail and green eyes holding Magenta's limp body in her arms bridal-style, Magenta is covered in blood, the girl stares at me and smiles, she giggles and opens her mouth,_

_"It's so hard to believe that this was me last year, huh?" She's smiling at me, like she's trying to make me feel guilty._

_"...you're..."_

_"Sydney Ansalong, it's nice to meet you, you're friends with my big sister Laura, aren'tcha? And you're a doctor! Too bad you and your co-workers couldn't save me. Well, I don't hold it against you, maybe you can join me... and Magenta! She's your friend too, right?" Sydney starts walking towards me, she lays Magenta down on the bloodstained floor. Her teeth are poking out from her lips... Like a vampire..._

_Before I know it, she's lunging, and I'm awake._

_..._

I wake up shivering in sweat, my teeth are chattering through the scream exploding from my throat, I'm thrashing so hard I slip out of the bed and hit the linoleum floor so hard I'm almost sure my ass is bleeding, as well as my upper thighs. Either way, I'm screaming like I'm being attacked... Wasn't I? My scrubs, luckily aren't too sweaty, I open the door and run to the ER, I know Frank will know what to do.


	4. Agitated

**An Infirmary Lullaby**

**More terminal-Genta, my apologies... Thanks to Ninety-Six Smiles for your continued help and support. And for coming up with the title. If you hadn't, I would have called it... 'McKinley's Anatomy' or something ridiculous like that...**

**And also, Dr. Riddick, Dr. Laramee and Dr. Baier are based on me, Ninety-Six Smiles and Magentalove2326. We done got ourselves some Mary-Sues.**

* * *

Nation's POV.

I'm in the On-Call room when the door opens up, expecting Cosmo, Laura or Frank, I'm thrown off when it's Brad.

"Hey." He whispers, "Where've you been? Magenta was asking Laura about you..."

"I just... I don't think I can be around patients..."

"It's fine if you want to take a break, I know Magenta's a little high-maintenance, but-"

"Oh, no, it's not that at all, she's perfect, she's a wonderful patient..." I can feel tears starting to come into my eyes, "She's... she's just... so sweet..." I know I'm sobbing, I don't try to stop, Brad gently strokes my hair,

"It's okay." I choke back a loud, heavy sob and dig my fingernails into my knees, Brad looks guilty, with tears in his eyes. I can tell he's thinking about Magenta. I stand up,

"You know what, I have to go. I have a lot of patients, patients that are even sicker than your wife."

"I didn't mean to-"

"Save it... I just... I... I have to go..."

* * *

I find myself in the ER, following Frank around.

"It's like she doesn't want to live! It's exhausting! I mean, can't she at least try to-"

"Hey!" Frank spins around, his face is turning pink, "If you're gonna follow me around all day, you can at least make yourself useful! Take your pick, peanut allergy, sewing needles stuck in the big toe, or sprained ankle."

"None. I can go stalk Laura."

...

Laura's life as a nurse is fucking boring as fuck. She talks all sweet to her patients, talks all sweet to the other nurses, and then screams at every cardiologist who crosses her path. Makes me glad to be specializing in oncology...

I'm about to go down to the cafeteria to get something that will take my mind off of my bitchy life when a doctor with curly brown hair and hipster glasses steps right in front of me, she almost spills an entire blood transfusion on me.

"Watch it." I grumble at her, she giggles. "What's your problem?"

"You're Dr McKinley, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you, like, go insane last night?"

"I did not. You perky nuthouse." I shove past her so our shoulders collide forcefully, but she's so damn skinny that her bones probably cut me...

"Stop the violence!" She peeps as she walks away. What a nut... Two other doctors skitter past, one is tall with light blonde hair and the other is dirty blonde with a few moles on her face.

"HEY! KIDS!" I scream at them, they twirl around, so their hair smacks them in the face, "Are you with that crazy bitch that just ran past?"

"You mean Izzy?"

"She's our best friend!"

"Well, aren't you perky!" I glare the dirty blonde one between the eyes, she smiles at me.

"You're really weird..."

...

Magenta is sleeping when I get into her room, Laura is taping an ice pack to her wrist.

"Hey Laura."

"Nat, hi."

"How's she been?"

"...I'll just say that... Sydney used to get this way."

"What way?"

"Well, she's in a lot of pain, constantly, she bleeds, almost all the time, and the weakness just can't be ignored, it's horrible."

"She told me she felt fine."

"That's because she doesn't want to worry you, she told me that. I think it's that she just doesn't want to show any kind of weakness in front of you. She's just saving face."

"Why would she save face? I'm her doctor!" I half-scream, Magenta stirs and I quiet down, "Is she embarrassed about something?"

"But... you're... you make her very uncomfortable. She's scared to talk to you."

"What is she, six?"

"Just let it go, Nat, when she wakes up, you have to be as nice as possible to her, she's scared out of her mind, just try to make her comfortable, okay?"

I stare at Laura, then Magenta, "Fine." I concede. "Comfortable. Got it."

Laura leaves the room, I sit down on the end of Magenta's bed and touch her hand gently. Her hair is spread out across her pillow and the dark red lipstick is coming off of her delicate lips. A very slight graft-versus-host breakout is spreading across her chest. Her eyelids start to twitch, I snatch my hand back and jump up as she opens her eyes,

"Mmm... Dr. McKinley..."

I force a smile, "I thought I told you to call me Nation."

"Fine. Nation. Where's Brad?"

"I don't know, I just got here."

"Laura knows, where is she..."

"She l-" I'm about to say 'left' when Brad barges into the room loudly,

"I'm so sorry I left, baby-"

"No, it's okay..." Brad and Magenta start hugging their problems out right where I can see it. How fucking adorable.

...

I run back to the cafeteria, kind of sweating, no, not kind of. I'm sweating profusely.

Laura and Frank are sitting at a table. Laura is mutilating a helpless sandwich and Frank is on the phone. I sit down next to her,

"Are you gonna eat that thing or just pick at it?"

"I don't know. It's really gross, want some?"

"Well, if it's really gross, the answer would be no."

Frank hangs up, "Laura, eat your fucking sandwich."

"There's nothing left to eat."

"Stay out of this, Nat."

"What're you so pissed about?"

Frank is silent for a second. "...One of my Peds kids died this morning."

Laura looks shocked and almost upset, "Oh Frankie... I'm so sorry- who was it?"

"...Tricia."

"SHUT THE FRONT DOOR..."

"She had leukemia, Laura, I guess it had to happen."

I stand up quickly, "I have to go."

...

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_

"Shut up, you fucking pager..." I snap at the beeping thing attached to my scrubs, I look at it for a second- FUCK...

...

A swarm of doctors is running around Magenta's room, I punch my way through the crowd.

Magenta is lying in her bed, drenched in blood, coughing violently and choking on blood with every gasping breath she takes. Brad is shuddering against a wall.

...

After Magenta is stabilized, a few of us spill out into the hallway where Dr. Halminen is. She has a look on her face like someone set fire to her lawn.

"Well, you saw what happened in there. Hopefully it will never happen again, but in order to prevent it from happening again, we're going to have to ask each of you a few questions, nurses included."

"You're gonna interrogate us?" Laura snaps, "What the hell?"

"Nurse Ansalong, if you could pipe down for just a minute- thank you. First, Dr. Riddick, if you could just come with me, please."

I sit down on one of the benches lining the hallway, "This is bullshit." I whisper to Cosmo, "They shouldn't make us do this."

"I can't do anything about it. I'm only a resident."

"So am I." I glance down the hall. Frank is sweating. I go and sit next to him, "You know, there's nothing to be nervous about if you didn't do anything wrong."

"That's... uh, that's true. I don't test well, is all."

"Nation McKinley." calls a voice. I stand up and walk towards Dr. Halminen and two other people who I don't know. They lead me into a boardroom and sit down across the table from me, Dr. Halminen starts asking questions.

"Who was treating Magenta Alvarado this afternoon?"

"Uh... Me, Nurse Ansalong, Dr. Furter, and those perky little interns whose names I don't know."

"You know that Ms Alvarado was in shock, rapid kidney failure and cardiac arrest...?"

"Yes, we stabilized her and she's on dialysis now. And responsive."

"She needed a blood transfusion today, right?"

"Yes she did."

"Do you know who was responsible for her transfusion?"

"Uh... I would think Dr. Furter."

...

We're all in the hall after the questioning period is over. Dr. Halminen comes into the hall,

"Dr. Furter, Dr. Nation, I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

I stand up, Frank shudders and runs in front of me. Dr. Halminen leads us back into the boardroom.

"Dr. Halminen-"

"Quiet, McKinley, have a seat." Frank and I sit down across the table from Dr. Halminen, "Well, where shall I begin... Dr. Furter, you were responsible for Ms Alvarado's blood transfusion today, because she nearly bled out yesterday."

"Yes, I was."

"And you were aware of her blood type."

"Yes, she's A negative." Frank freezes and horror registers on his face, "Did I not give her... a compatible transfusion?"

Dr. Halminen leans over the table, "Dr. Furter, you know the repercussions of giving a _B positive_ transfusion to an _A negative_ patient. Especially when that patient has leukemia which would present even more complications, you could have killed her-!"

"Dr. Halminen, in Dr. Furter's defense-"

"That's enough out of you, McKinley. Dr. Furter, from this point until you are told otherwise, you are on probation, and that includes a restraining order, you will not be permitted within twenty feet of Ms Alvarado's room, you will not be allowed to treat her or any other patients, you will not be allowed in the ER, you will keep your mouth shut, speak only when spoken to, you will not be receiving pay until your probation is lifted and above all, you will not interact with Ms Alvarado or anyone visiting her. Do you understand?"

Frank is silent, "I- don't... I-"

"I take it this meeting is over?"

Frank stands up slowly and flees the room.


	5. Alerted

**An Infirmary Lullaby**

**More terminal-Genta, my apologies... Thanks to Ninety-Six Smiles for your continued help and support. And for coming up with the title. If you hadn't, I would have called it... 'McKinley's Anatomy' or something ridiculous like that...**

* * *

Nation's POV.

Frank is a silent presence in the hospital. You'd never know he was there. He doesn't come to the On-Call room anymore. He only ever works half-days and I try to avoid Magenta as much as possible so I don't have to hear her ask for him, only to have Brad shush her so she gets that sad little look on her face. The whole hospital has become melancholy, Cosmo and Laura don't even bother to bitch at each other anymore, Dr Riddick, Dr Baier and Dr Laramee have kept their distance. The whole system of oncologists is falling apart.

I drag my ass into Magenta's room, she's asleep, Brad is sitting on her bed, holding her like he would hold a child, but when you hold a child, you don't usually mess up their IVs.

"Hi, Dr. McKinley." he says quietly,

"How was she last night?"

"Not so good. She was in so much pain, Laura had to give her morphine."

"Where was it coming from?"

"I'm not sure. She just said her whole body ached, but she overreacts sometimes."

"I'll stay here for the night, just to watch her."

"Don't you have a home to go back to?"

"I live with Laura, Frank and Cosmo. It's really fine."

Brad glances down, "So... Frank won't be treating her again, right?"

"Probably not."

"...I knew he was trouble. He's killed people before. I saw it happen. For all we know, Magenta could have been his last victim."

"He wouldn't intentionally hurt her. I know that for a fact."

"Do you?" Brad snaps, he freezes and continues, "... we both know she's not going to make it-"

"Shut up." I capitulate, "You can go to hell for saying that."

Brad looks down, "I'm just trying to be realistic. I'm through with getting my hopes up. She's too sick for me to get my hopes up-"

"You don't have to get your hopes up, you just have to try to believe in her, and that she'll fight hard enough to get better."

"You sound like a soap opera."

"Fuck you."

"GO TO HELL!" He screams at me, "What kind of doctor are you?"

"I'M THE KIND THAT THINKS YOU NEED TO BE A BETTER HUSBAND! YOUR WIFE IS INCREDIBLY SICK! YOU'RE ACTING LIKE YOU WANT HER TO DIE!"

Brad falls silent, "We're not actually married."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Last year, she started to really go downhill, she had a subarachnoid hemmorhage as a side effect of a surgery she needed to remove a metastatic tumor that formed on her brain stem, she couldn't talk or move for about 48 hours, so she was put into a medically-induced coma so she wouldn't be in pain, while she was under, I called my mom and she gave me her engagement ring, Magenta woke up with it on her hand, we exchanged vows the next day and we promised each other that we'd refer to ourselves as married from that day forward. And I told her that once she got better, we'd have a real wedding. And we'd go to Seattle for our honeymoon, because she used to watch Grey's Anatomy." Brad starts to tear up, "She memorized Season One... You need to fix her."

I nod as my throat begins to close and I have to bite back the onset of tears. Magenta shudders and begins to violently cough herself awake, Brad gently lowers her down on the bed.

"Brad, hand me that oxygen mask over there." I whisper as I wipe blood off of her face, Brad passes me Magenta's oxygen mask and I hold it over her mouth, she whimpers softly as she's suddenly able to breathe again.

"Alright, baby." Brad whispers, stroking her hair back and taking hold of her hand, "Everything's fine..."

I keep quiet as Magenta looks down, I can see what I think might be tears forming in her eyes, I kind of glance away, Laura opens the door,

"Nat, it's Frank."

"What? What's he done now?"

"I don't know, but he's not answering his phone, I think he might be trying to kill himself."

"He wouldn't do that."

"HE ASKED ME HOW MANY TYLENOL IT TOOK TO KILL SOMEONE!"

I'm quiet for a second. Before I know it, I'm running out the door.


	6. Depressed

**An Infirmary Lullaby**

**More terminal-Genta, my apologies... Thanks to Ninety-Six Smiles for your continued help and support. And for coming up with the title. If you hadn't, I would have called it... 'McKinley's Anatomy' or something ridiculous like that...**

* * *

Nation's POV.

Frank is admitted after taking two whole bottles of extra-strength Tylenol in one shot. He's scheduled for a psych consult and Magenta is slowly beginning to lose it. Cosmo is on edge, Laura is running in circles wringing her hands and I honestly don't know what to think. Magenta and Brad are demanding enough as it is and with Frank in the hospital and my colleagues slowly going up the wall, they're about 300 times harder to deal with.

I put my magazine down on the sidetable of the On-Call room. Once again, I'm alone in here, Cosmo is doing an appendectomy on a six-year old and Laura is with Frank. Magenta's kidney dysplasia meds mixed with the chemo just creates an explosion of her either bitching or wanting to sleep so I don't see her so much, and I'm positive Brad is over the moon about Frank being hooked up to machines.

Magenta is awake when I enter her room, Brad is gone, from the looks of the note he left on Magenta's bedside table, he's across the street, getting a birthday present for his sister. She looks up from her laptop.

"Hi, Nation."

"You feeling okay?"

"Fine. How's Frank?"

"I'm not sure, he needs to be watched closely for the next week and he's still on oxygen. He's probably going to need a liver transplant."

"Shit."

"You know, this isn't your fault."

"I got him fired, didn't I?"

"Actually, no, you didn't."

"Bullshit-" Magenta slaps a hand over her mouth, blood begins to stream between her fingers and I pass her an emesis basin. "Fuck-"

"Don't say anything, just don't, you'll choke."

"Tell me how Frank is-" she starts to choke violently on the stream of blood.

"You'll find out tomorrow. All I know is he's on liver dialysis, the state of his kidneys is in debate and neither of you are in any position to be seeing each other, I'm not even sure Dr. Halminen will allow it."

Magenta leans back and looks at me"Screw Dr. Halminen, I need to see him in case I don't make it through the night."

I stare at her, "Imply that again and I'll cut you."

She shoots me a look. "At least take me there."

"I can't. You're too sick to be out of bed."

"Too sick, my ass."

"Magenta. Let it. _GO._"

She looks down at her lap, I see a few tears fall onto her blanket.

"I just need to know that he's alright."

I back up a step, "I'll go see him now, okay? I'll tell you everything."

She dries her tears.

"Fine."

...

I'm waiting outside of Frank's room when Cosmo comes up behind me.

"Hey, Nat."

"Hey. I was just about to see Frank, have you...?"

"No, not yet... Listen, uh, I kind of came to talk to Laura, more than to see Frank, I've been thinking about the way I talked about Ms Alvarado. And I feel horrible. You know, because of her sister and all, and what happened. I feel terrible about it, I mean, what if that had happened to you?"

"I'm really glad you came to apologize." I kind of whisper. "She's upset, Magenta, she thinks she's about to die. But really, she's been doing better. She's been doing well in her treatment. And I think she and Brad could- No, I've said too much, let's go see Frank."

Cosmo opens the door. Laura is sitting next to Frank's bed, along with a tall woman with black hair, a man who looks like Frank and two small kids. Laura stands up,

"Hi, Nat and Cosmo. Okay, I'd like you to meet Frank's parents, uh, AnneMarie and Dmitri. And his brother and sister, Sloane, she's 8, and D'Alessio, and he's 5."

AnneMarie stands up, "I should probably take the little ones downstairs, come on. Dmitri, you should come too, give Frankie and his friends some privacy."

Within seconds, everyone is leaving. I kind of mince over to Frank's bed. I don't know what to expect.

He's awake. Pale. He has the same tubes in his nose that Magenta has. But the look on his face is different. It's disdainful, kind of sad. I smile a little,

"So... you're awake...?"

"No shit." He whines. "I can't believe it."

"Why did you want to kill yourself."

He pauses, "...Magenta. I almost killed her."

"She's okay, she wants to know how you are."

Frank smiles a little, "She's the sweetest human being on this planet. Tell her I love her."

Cosmo glances at Laura, she gets the hint and follows him into the hall.

"So you're having a liver transplant?"

"Yeah. My mom is donating it. You know, because they only take a little piece of your liver. So we'll both be fine."

I glare at Frank, "Don't ever try to kill yourself again."

He smiles and starts to laugh a little, "I'll try, Nat. I'll try. Now go check on Magenta, tell her I'm doing fine."

...

Magenta is laying in bed sweating buckets when I walk into her room. Brad is sitting next to her bed tracing circles on her back,

"Is she okay?"

"She's just in pain, I'm guessing a lot."

"When did it start?"

"A little while ago, she threw up a few times because of it."

"Did she say where it was coming from?"

"No, no, she didn't."

"Ok, I'll call Laura, there's something I need to do."

"Oh yeah, Nation? What the fuck could that be?"

"Brad, I have a life."

"DOCTORS DON'T HAVE LIVES!"

"Listen, she is not going to die today, this is a painful disease, this is a side-effect. I need to go."

"WHERE? WHO DO YOU HAVE TO SEE?"

"I don't have to see anyone. I just- I... I have to go home. I'm sorry."

I run out of the room and down the hall. I don't even feel the tears until I'm in my car.


	7. Exposed

**An Infirmary Lullaby**

**More terminal-Genta, my apologies... Thanks to Ninety-Six Smiles for your continued help and support. And for coming up with the title. If you hadn't, I would have called it... 'McKinley's Anatomy' or something ridiculous like that...**

* * *

Nation's POV.

Cosmo and Laura come home at seven in the middle of my online My Strange Addiction marathon. I slam the laptop shut and pretend like I'm asleep. Laura sits down on the couch next to me,

"You okay?"

"I'm asleep." I whine into the pillow over my face, "Quit bothering me."

I can honestly hear Laura smirking, there's a loud noise from the kitchen and I hear a scream of "SHIT!"

"YOU IDIOT!"

"SHUT UP, LAURA!"

"YOU DROPPED A FRYING PAN!"

"EVERYONE DOES IT!" There's one more slamming noise and Cosmo comes into the living room. "I'm going upstairs."

He's gone in a second. Laura glances at me,

"Are you okay? Brad said you literally ran out today."

"...she's just a patient. When she gets discharged, I'll probably never see her or Brad again. They don't matter."

"Nation, I don't think treating her is the best option for you. Should I get Cosmo to do it?"

"No, you heard the way he talked about her. I can't let her go through that."

"Nat, this is hurting you."

"I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine, okay?"

...

I fall asleep at about 3, my bed's warm enough and after a few hours Cosmo goes downstairs to watch TV, so I can hear him. The sound of other people always puts me to sleep, I don't know why, Cosmo says it's because when we were little, one of our parents was always awake, it was just the way our family was. During that night, Laura had come into my room multiple times to check on me. I'll need to send her a thank you note. That's right, when someone does something nice for me I send them a thank you note. Sue me.

I sleep until about 5 then go downstairs halfway. I drag the sheets off my bed and just kind of lay on the stairs in a fucking cocoon of pillow, comforter and my own damn body heat, I know Laura is going to find me eventually and I can hear Cosmo dropping things in the process of opening a six-pack of Sprite. If I start slipping, I'm going to kill someone, or more likely myself. I hear Laura make a squeaking noise in the other room and I bury my face in my pillow. This is a bad idea.

I start to kind of slide down the stairs in my sheet burrito, landing in a bunch at the bottom of the stairs louder than I'd anticipated.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I hear Cosmo scream, he runs over to where I'm lying in my puffy blue-and-pink-striped sausage roll. "Are you okay? What did you do?"

"My bed's portable now..." I giggle like a nut, "I can go aaaaanywhere in my bed... Hey, be a dear and get me a Sprite. But the Diet ones."

"Please don't make me open another six-pack... Or at least drink the fat version..."

"Fine. Are the Diet Cokes open?"

"Nat, they aren't even cold. Can't you just get your own?"

"No. I'm in bed."

Cosmo stares at me for a second. "I'm not getting you a pop, Nation."

"Can you at least drag me to the couch?" Cosmo grabs a corner of one of my blankets and pulls me over to the couch. "I'm still down here."

"I'm not picking you up. I drop everything, and if I drop you, I'll probably get kicked out of the family."

"Fine."

"Why are you acting like such a baby?"

"Because I dragged my bed downstairs and if you're me, that's an accomplishment." I stand up and lay down on the couch. "Now tuck me back in."

"No, thank you." Cosmo walks away as I try to go back to sleep.

"BABY GOTTA GO NITENITE!" I yell after him, I can tell he's flipping me off.

* * *

We get into the hospital after a while, after we check in we see a flock of doctors standing outside the Nurse's Station. We hear a preachy voice resonating above all the others,

"...She was about to die, but then I got the defibrillator-"

I run over and find _DR RIDDICK_ preaching to everyone about something. Her little friends are squealing amongst themselves and the other doctors. Dr. Laramee and Dr. Baier run over,

"She saved your patient's life!"

"Yeah!"

I shove past them and look Dr. Riddick square in the glasses, "What the hell are you preaching about?"

"How I saved Ms Alvarado's life."

"That's a lie."

"Oh yeah? She was coding!"

I shove past her and open the door to Magenta's room. Brad is holding her on the windowseat, I think it's supposed to look cute but I wouldn't know because I'm been an S&M person since I was 14. Magenta glances at me over her shoulder, Brad brings his arm around her tighter. I walk closer to them.

"Magenta?"

She turns around, "What?"

"What did Dr Riddick do?"

"You mean Isabel?"

"Her friends call her Izzy so yes."

"I coded last night, I would have stroked out if she hadn't done something."

"Bullshit." I snap under my breath. "Has she ever done anything... bad?"

"No. Not really. She's a good doctor. She's pretty too. So are her friends."

"YOU MEAN THOSE BLONDE BITCHES?!"

"Can you calm down please? Jesus, can I give someone a compliment here?"

"I just... hate her..."

"Why?"

"She's annoying..." theres a moment of silence, "So, has your heart rate been consistent lately?"

"No." Magenta concludes, "Isabel kept me on oxygen last night, and she stayed her in case she had to page the ICU."

Brad pulls Magenta closer, kissing the top of her head, he looks at me, "Don't you have somewhere you have to be?"

"Uh, yeah, here. I'm assigned here, that's why I have your girlfriend's charts."

"FIANCEE." Brad snaps, "Get it fucking right."

"Please, just stop." Magenta whines into her hand. "Brad, I'll be fine." She notices the silence, "Maybe you should go call your cousin... About this summer."

"Okay." Brad whispers, laying Magenta down on the windowseat and leaving the room. She sits up once he's gone.

"It's weird, you know, even when I'm dying, we still have the same fights."

"You're not dying, you really need to quit saying that."

Magenta stands up, "What if I can't? What if I know what's happening to me? What if I don't want Brad to get his hopes up, because he does that, last year, he convinced himself it was just a nosebleed, then my period, then a bruise that covered most of my back. And he just didn't get it because that's who he is. He just doesn't- mm-"

All the colour suddenly drains out of her face, I put an arm around her waist and lay her on her bed,

"Sorry..." she whispers, "I'm still getting better from last night."

"Don't apologize. Just be glad Brad wasn't here, he would overreact, this is normal."

Magenta covers herself with the sheets, "Can you keep him out?"

"Wait, what?"

"Can you keep Brad out? I don't want to make him put up with me."

"He loves you-"

"That doesn't matter, I don't want to make him upset." She stares at the wall,

"I'll page Laura, okay?"

"Okay." she whispers as I'm leaving.

* * *

After I've paged Laura I start down the hall from Magenta's room to the On-Call room to go to sleep. For maybe about like 20 minutes. I don't have anywhere I have to be, I didn't sleep last night, and the hospital is pretty quiet today.

...

I'm woken by my pager yelling at me from under my pillow. Vibrating and digging a hole in my face. It's coming from Dr. Halminen, at least it isn't Magenta.

I get up and prepare myself for a lecture.

...

I arrive late to Dr Halminen's rant, just in time to hear,

"WHOSE DIRTY, SLUTTY, SKANK PANTIES ARE THESE?" The entire body of doctors and nurses is assembled in that area of the hallway, in front of the whiteboard, where a black thong is pinned, "I'm not leaving until I get an answer."

Those panties are familiar. I know I'm seen them before, in my own washing machine, actually. Laura always leaves her laundry laying around but it never follows her to work. And this time it doesn't feel like it's hers. Laura actually can sometimes give off this aura, like just vibes of how she's feeling. And I don't feel a guilty vibe in the crowd.

But maybe the owner of the panties isn't here.

That's when it hits me.

That thong belongs to Frank.

Yes, he's a crossdresser, if you live in a house with him, you start to notice it. And he's still being prepped for surgery. If anyone finds out he's fucked. Denton is possibly the most anti-LGBT town in the USA. And Frank is the cute little T right in the middle of a huge mess.

At that moment, Laura steps forward and raises her hand.

"Nurses..." says someone in the crowd, Dr Halminen picks up the thong between her thumb and index finger and tosses it at Laura's head. Laura runs away to Frank's room and I brace myself for Hurricane Halminen coming down on the two of them like the Hand of God.


End file.
